Treacy adds that he viewed Beatrice as a "beautiful, exotic, Victorian doll," and that the hat suited her look. "Princess Beatrice is Queen Victoria's great, great, great, great granddaughter and looks like Queen Victoria," he says.

The saga did have a happy ending, however, as the hat was eventually sold on eBay to an anonymous bidder for $130,000 – with all that money going to charity.

For 14 pages of pictures and an inside look at Prince William and Kate's triumphant tour of North America, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday